Jimmy Liao 幾米
Jimmy Liao is Taiwan’s favorite author-illustrator. Born in Taipei. With a BA degree in Fine Arts, majoring in Design. Jimmy had worked in advertising companies for 12 years, currently works full-time as an illustrator and author.
Since Secrets in the Woods and A Fish that Smiled at Me were published in 1998, Jimmy published illustrated books with amazing originality and multi-faceted narratives. He had since set a fashion in creating and publishing illustrated books in local and international markets. Utilizing images as a refreshing form of literary language, Jimmy creates his works in poetic frames that emit charms and appeals. With charming drawings and poetic writing, these full-color crossover titles appeal to both adults and teenagers.
Since 2000, Locus has published around 50 titles by Jimmy, each of which has been critically and popularly acclaimed. Altogether, more than three million copies of his books have been sold in Taiwan and China. Foreign rights have been sold in USA, France, Germany, Greece, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Spain, Mexico, Estonia, Brazil, Italy, Holland, Poland, Russia, Portugal, Sweden, China, Vietnam and Turkey. The Italian version The Sound of Colors had been a Premio Andersen finalist in 2012 and the French version is the Le Prix Versele laureate in Belgium. A Fish that Smiled at Me was adapted into an animated film, won the Special Prize of the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk for best short film at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival and the best animation award at the 51st Asia Pacific Film Festival, 2006. Apart from working on his books, he has been cooperating with publishing houses in UK and USA.
Jimmy’s works have been transformed for various art styles –theme music albums, TV series, stage presentation, film adaptation, animation and so forth.
